


Breaking and Building

by SacredMorningStar



Series: Works for Others [8]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Manipulation, Mighty Nein, Mighty Nein Arc, Mind Control, Molly and Yasha are like siblings, Molly will not let go, Spoilers for Season 2 Ep 69 to 86
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:40:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29533503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SacredMorningStar/pseuds/SacredMorningStar
Summary: A request from Tumblr I hope you enjoy this Nonnie! SPOILERS for Campaign 2 Episodes 69 to 86!!!Request: Molly's reaction to Yasha being controlled by Obann from 69 to when they finally saved her in 86.
Relationships: Molly & Yasha - Relationship, Mollymauk Tealeaf & Yasha, Mollymauk Tealeaf/Caleb Widogast/Yasha, Yasha & Molly, Yasha & Mollymauk Tealeaf, Yasha Nydoorin & Mollymauk Tealeaf
Series: Works for Others [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/355919
Kudos: 10





	Breaking and Building

Obann had been luring them into some kind of trap, Molly had been sure of that the moment he sent the message to Jester, the moment he asked for them to bring Yasha to him, hearing a name none of them had heard her called before. Yasha had seemed just as confused by the name as they rest of them, part of the years that Yasha couldn’t remember, but he hadn’t expected how much they would lose facing off against the stranger.

The fight had been hard, everyone pushing themselves to their limits, everyone desperate to stop Obann in whatever chaos he planned to bring to the world. Yet they failed to stop him, they failed to prevent him releasing the Laughing Hand, they watched as the monster was brought back, and he let his fury fuel his magic, his blood seemingly far more potent, and he watched as the fiend was revealed and slaughtered by the group. He watched him melt, watched his form corrode into a pile, only to see Yasha turn on the team with such a cruel and cold look.

Jester and Fjord had tried to save her, watched as more of the team began to leave her behind, but he couldn’t do it. They had been through so much, he had saved her from behind held captive, had nearly lost his life trying to save her and she had done the same for him. She was like family, she was a family he never expected to have, someone who had seen him at his worst and still accepted him and cared for him when he needed it most; his mind completely lost. He had managed to get to the exit, had started to get the doors open, only to see Yasha refuse to leave with them.

He sheathed his swords quickly, and just as he went to charge back in, to grab Yasha and drag her back with the group. She was his sister, his family, he had to do everything in his power to get her back. He had just begun to take a step towards Yasha, seeing the doors closing, seeing every attempt to bring her in failed, only to feel arms around him. First one pair, then a stronger pair, then a smaller body against his leg, and he screamed feeling tears streaming down his face realising they were abandoning Yasha to whatever fate was ahead of her.

“No! Jester, let me go! We need to save her, she needs us, she wouldn’t leave us, we can’t leave her!” He was struggling against them as they finally pulled him through the closing doors. “NO! Back! We have to help her! We can’t abandon her! How dare you just leave her when everything she has ever done had been to help?!” He was screaming, his throat going raw with anger, as he struggled against the team who held him back. “Let me go! We can’t abandon her!”

“She turned on us Molly, we need to get out of here before they find a way to us, she attacked us, she is not the Yasha any of us know. We have to leave before she takes our lives.” Beau’s words were harsh, almost matched the fury of the tiefling, “We need to _go_ Molly! We need to regroup, we need to talk about this, we need to get ourselves safe and come back to her later.”

Tears were streaming down his face as he looked at Ford and Jester, knowing they had tried to bring her with them, knowing she had turned on them, seeing but truly not wanting to believe she was on the side of the fiend after everything they had been through. She was the only one who had been there for him through the hell that was the start of his life as Mollymauk. He heard the rest of the Nein beginning to move off, only finally going when the pounding and screaming behind the door seemed to trigger a crack in the door. They had to face the same challenges on the way out as they had on the way in and they rushed out feeling the weight on his chest only grow worse. He had never been so angry at the team, never been so furious that he was willing to punch Jester or Beau until the moment he had was held back.

It was only when they escaped the hellhole that was the strange, secret cave, that they could take a moment, that he could think about what happened and what it could mean. He stared at his hands, the eyes in the tattoos seeming to stare back for one, and he wondered just how little he had known about Yasha. Was Beau right in saying that Yasha had always been against them, that this was all part of some plot to get to the fiend, had the two years together at the circus really been some plot or insidious plan to bring this Angel of Irons into their world? She had been his sister. She was his constant for over two years, had that bond all been a part of some plot, had she really used him and made him part of whatever the fiend had planned.

She couldn’t have been that cruel, that wasn’t the Yasha he had known, she wasn’t the type to manipulate others or to toy with them. She was kind, she was sweet, she collected flowers and pressed them in a special book, she welcomed every new member to the circus with warmth and kindness, this was nothing like the clearly furious being that had been trying to attack them. Molly felt like part of his heart was torn out, was pulled away and crushed, and that the hope he would have to getting Yasha back, the Yasha he knew, was scattered.

Beau had seemed so certain that Yasha had betrayed them, that it was her choice, that she had planned this all along, yet Jester and Caduceus, the strange, even for Molly, firbolg who was incredibly perceptive compared to others in the group. There was a dichotomy within the group, those certain they had been betrayed and those certain that this wasn’t all on Yasha, yet they all had to face the reality that they were down a member of their group; regardless of whether it was her choice or not.

It seemed the betrayal had sunk it’s claws deep into the once joyful and brightly coloured tiefling. It seemed that where they went he simply lost some of the colour and spark that was Mollymauk Tealeaf. Yasha had been gone before, she had left them and returned, but this time had felt so different to the colourful character that he seemed to withdraw. When they drank, he would sit and wallow a little, he fought with more violence and aggression, venting his emotions and frustration, and he seemed to be more on edge just watching the world around them. They had work to do, Obann had been brought back, thanks in part to Yasha, they had research to follow, they needed information, but yet again they were behind. Jester had been watching her, had been scrying on the group whenever they could, in scattered moments just to keep track of them, and the attack on the Cobalt Soul had been the most painful revelation.

Jester had seen her crying, had seen tears in her eyes, that she didn’t want to attack those in the Soul. Beau hadn’t believed it, she hadn’t wanted to know, but it seemed to bring Molly out of whatever darkness had began to take hold, that little bit of hope bringing just a glimpse of their Molly back to them. He had been drinking himself to complete inebriation, to almost passing out, hadn’t searched for bed mates like he’d usually done, but now he felt like they might have something to strive for. The calming words for the naïve firbolg had seemed to bring a new confidence, a new strength, and as they finally began to get a plan in place they seemed to be behind again.

They had to work fast, they had to get out to where they were, Jester seeing the skull at Obann’s side which they believed was the next being he was trying to bring back. He only needed one more piece and they were going to have to get incredibly lucky and work incredibly fast to catch up. They had hoped to be ahead of the group, to block their path and have some make their way ahead to find the gem, but they didn’t seem to have that luck, the teleportation dropping them behind the group and left catching up. They were having to move quick, having to rush through the forest, seeing the trio together, restricting the Hand, trying to beat them to the tree, Molly rushing to get as far ahead as possible; managing to reach the tree as Yasha and Obann grew close. Yasha had seemed furious, was clutching to her blade as almost seemed to be lead by her anger, swinging wildly and furiously at anyone who got close enough.

Molly had been trying to hold her attention, wanted to draw her away from the fiend, but he had failed to draw her far enough to have a chance at freeing her. He had caught a glimpse, the final piece of proof he needed to prove that Yasha had been controlled, was being manipulated, was being forced. During their fight, the tiefling able to just hold the barbarian off, seeing in her eyes that she was trying to resist and held back as much as she could, and Jester spotted the branding against the base of her neck that seemed to glow like a fire. The strange symbol was caught in only a glimpse, only for a moment, but it was enough of a distraction for them to lose the progress they’d made.

Obann had the stone in his hand, ready to leave, and the Laughing Hand had caught up to the fight pushing them back as the trio met up and quickly vanished in a spell. They had lost again, they had failed to stop him and failed to get Yasha, and now the fiend had all the parts to the assassin ready to summon yet another ally. They had gained something from it though, Molly and Jester were not going to back down, they were not going to give up on Yasha knowing now that she was under control of a monster that was not planning on releasing her any time soon. There had been hints when Jester had scried on the group, Yasha resisting, trying to fight Obann, the tears, all of it, but now they had something concrete.

Yasha was still his dearest friend, was still the warrior or adored the softer and sweeter things in life. Now they had to prepare, they had to get back to Zadash and to Pumat’s and prepare for whatever could be coming now. They had pieces, small sections of information, hints and ideas, but nothing was certain; even the Angel of Irons was suspicious. Beau, Nott and Caleb, as soon as they returned to Zadash, rushed to the Cobalt Soul to find out whatever they could now to put pieces together, while Jester, Molly, Caduceus and Fjord began to plan out what they could do next.

Everyone had seemed to notice the spark that was within Molly again as they set together trying to come up with how they could break the spell. Caleb would have been helpful within their group, but they needed those who were good at researching and had sway over the Soul to make as much progress as they could. Jester had been able to draw as much she had been able to see, not a lot but enough, and they knew they would need to go into the next fight with more strength. Caduceus and Fjord had managed to come up with a plan, something they would go over with Caleb, before they all headed towards the Invulnerable Vagrant looking to get fully prepared for the fight ahead of them.

Molly walked with more of a spring in his step, his coat square on his shoulders, his eyes almost glowing and thriving as they began to get themselves prepared for what was about to come. They had been working hard and it seemed Pumat had restocked on some useful weapons. Caleb, Beau and Nott had caught up with them, had been able to bring some pretty important information that the Angel of Irons seemed to be nothing more than a name, that there could be a way to weaken the Laughing Hand, and that Obann was looking to bring in an incredible powerful and dangerous deity of death and trickery. They had a chance to stop him, they had a way in, and now they could act. They would weaken the Laughing Hand first, they had been incredibly lucky to put the pieces together with the puzzle ball, thanks to Caleb and Jester realising the pieces that connection, commissioning pieces from Pumat, planning whatever they could even if they would never use the plan; which had seemed to become a running theme for them.

Their successes began to build in their favour. They managed to destroy the heart of the Laughing Hand, they had chance to gather everything they could information wise, they had yet to face the assassin and there had been some hope that Obann had failed to revive them. That changed when they were gathering the commissioned pieces from Pumat, and the assassin had tried to take them out. They were within the shop when the attack happened, and they had been amazed seeing Pumat fighting along side them. They had known he had to be skilled, the gifts from the Cerberus Assembly were enough of a hint for that, and it seemed the fight coming into his store had been enough to bring a second firbolg to the team. They had the win again, Pumat scrying on the group and seeing them heading into Rexxentrum, they knew how to get there, they knew where to go, they could catch up.

The chaos they arrived to was not what they expected, was not something they planned for, clearly Obann trying to rush the war between the Empire and Xhorhas, but they had other plans, they had to stop the fight, they managed to demand much of the fighting come to an end, Caleb using the gifts from the Bright Queen to get as many of the Xhorhasians out of their way. Now they were closer, Molly could feel his body shaking with anticipation, could feel the hope rising, could feel his fury at Obann building to a point he would be willing to slice the man into a million pieces and that wouldn’t be enough to punish him.

They found the cathedral, the imposing building towering above, the storm raging almost as violently as Molly’s emotions. Finally, they came face to face with them again, seeing Obann with his allies, Yasha trying to resist the spell in her attacks, seemingly holding back even as she swung her blade at them. Molly blinded the assassin, watching them carefully as he saw the other’s fighting, saw Yasha held and finally they freed her. Finally, he saw the Aasimar blink back to life, saw the Yasha he knew was back, the Laughing Hand had been defeated, turned to a stiff, stone-like statue in the middle of the room.

He rushed to her side when the fight was over and wrapped her in the tightest hug possible seeing the tears in her eyes realising what happened. She was safe, she was with the group again, now they had to rescue Nott and end the chaos that Obann was bringing to the world. He checked over Yasha, looking over her whole body, for the worst injuries, for anything he could do to help, wiping away the tears forming in her eyes. He felt his own tears, of relief knowing she was safe, that she was well, that his sister was back at his side. It seemed though their attacks had drawn attention of other supporters. Pumat took on the fight, ready to face them, knowing the group needed to focus on Obann and stop him.

“We have to finish this, we have to stop him, we have you Yasha, we will not let you go so easily.” Molly smiled widely and kissed the top of her head. “We have a trouble making goblin we must go save as well. We have you, we’ve got you.”


End file.
